Certain furnaces used to melt or smelt various metals require periodic removal of encrustations of slag which accumulate about the inner circumference of the top portion of an inner wall of a furnace. This problem is particularly acute in the maintenance of large induction furnaces used to melt non-ferrous metals and alloys, such as copper alloys. In these instances, slag floats on the molten metal and is encrusted upon the adjacent inner furnace wall. The slag, which includes numbers of impurities, may also be the source of various noxious fumes.
Heretofore, upon the accumulation of slag encrustations it has been the practice to shut down the furnace and have a workman stand near the top of the furnace and use a jack hammer to knock off the slag encrustants.